BROWARD COUNTY, FL -- Broward County's Port Everglades supports the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers ongoing efforts to both continue additional surveys as part of the environmental process and to keep the public informed about the Port Everglades navigation improvements project. The additional studies will not impede the process or delay the project, and are consistent with the County's commitment to environmental stewardship. The Corps is conducting the additional studies during the preconstruction, engineering and design phase, a two-year phase that is underway and will continue into 2018.

The Port project is critical to the community and the region. Port Everglades values the inclusion of further study of any potential environmental affects as part of the National Environmental Policy Act process.

As the project moves forward through the preconstruction engineering and design phase to the construction phase, Port Everglades remains committed to best practices in environmental stewardship as part of its commitment to environmental monitoring and interagency cooperation. Port Everglades sees this due diligence as valuable information gathering, and we are dedicated to a rigorous, open and inclusive process that is based on state of the art science and engineering. We have and will continue to take the steps needed to ensure that the approach to the Port expansion incorporates lessons learned from past projects to help protect the marine environment and our region's most important natural resources.

We look forward to additional stakeholder input during the Army Corps of Engineers public meetings later next month. Any new information will continue to be provided to the public as part of this important project.

The Port Everglades Navigation Improvements Project received federal authorization in December 2016 for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to move forward with deepening and widening the Port's navigation channels as part of the Water Infrastructure Improvements for the Nation (WIIN) Act. The project is currently in the preconstruction engineering and design phase, and is proceeding through the permitting and federal funding processes. The project is anticipated to create an estimated 2,200 construction jobs and nearly 1,500 permanent direct jobs locally resulting from additional cargo capacity.